


Take the Money and Run

by amy_star



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: AU, Dubious Consent, Established Relationship, M/M, Murder, Robbery, Sex Work, Violence, Wrestling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:09:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28471440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amy_star/pseuds/amy_star
Summary: In a world where wrestling never took off to the mainstream, some people still have a calling for the business. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are two young men who know they can take wrestling to the next level, if they can just catch the eye of one of the larger promoters. But things go completely sideways when they take their shot at the brass ring.
Relationships: Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley/Seth Rollins | Tyler Black
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7
Collections: Secret Santa 2020





	1. Prologue:  Best Laid Plans...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eric_idle_rules](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eric_idle_rules/gifts).



> What if, instead of going North to New York, the McMahons had gone south to take over Von Erich territory? In this world of territories run by mercurial promoters, things aren't as easy for the men and women who want to wrestle.  
> This story will contain reference to past sex work, parents who don't accept their gay kids, violence and dub-con in this AU setting. I imagined it as being set in around 2009, so our protagonists are in their early twenties, and Vince is still a hale and hearty man in his early 60's.

Another sweltering afternoon in East Texas, another day of barely scraping by. Dean didn’t particularly care; he’d led a hard-scrabble life for as long as he could remember. East Texas was at least blessedly free of snow, unlike back home in the projects of Cincinnati. Seth, on the other hand, was starting to show signs of stress. It wasn’t exactly his fault. He hadn’t come from much back in Iowa, but at least his family had enough money to keep the lights on, a roof over their heads, and mouths fed no matter what, so multiple nights in a row with next to nothing to eat was starting to wear on him.

“Hey. Seth. Listen, it’ll be okay. I promise,” he said, somewhat hesitantly, reaching out a hand to settle on Seth’s knee. “Worst-case scenario… you could always go back home.”

“What? No. I won’t go back without you,” Seth said, a scowl settling on his face. 

“Babe, stubbornness is not one of your most attractive features, you know,” Dean sighed. 

“No. They kicked me out because they didn’t like you. They’re done. I’m not leaving you, especially not to crawl back to them and take their charity,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re in this together. No matter what.”

“Yeah, but it ain’t gonna do no one any good if you starve to death,” Dean said, lips settling into a grim line. 

“I’ll get another job. There are other fast food places. We’ll make it work. All we gotta do is get booked on a couple more of these small shows here, then the McMahons will take notice and we can head down to El Paso and…”

“And what? Find yet another pizza delivery job? Seth…” 

“So what if we do? Don’t you believe we can do this? That’s what we said, back in Chicago. That we were gonna make it. Head south, get noticed, get on TV. We’re so good they can’t not notice us. We’re different, we can change the industry, Dean. Take Late Night Wrestling Entertainment from a no-name cable channel with just a bit of internet buzz and make it explode. Finally give some competition to the martial arts scene. That was always our dream, wasn’t it? To make it, to make a difference, leave a mark?”

“Of course that’s the dream, it’s why we came to Texas. But sometimes… sometimes your dreams don’t come true, no matter how hard you work. I know so many people who had big dreams and life… it just fucking crushed them. I can’t see you get crushed too. You have family. You could go back to school, do more than just barely survive. I’m used to cockroach-infested rooms rented by the week, I don’t give a fuck. But you deserve more than… this,” Dean said, waving his arm at the cracked plaster walls and sad hot plate on the table that passed as their kitchen. “I’ll always believe that you’re one of the best wrestlers on the planet, but talent alone ain’t gonna pay the bills. We can’t keep doing this.” 

“I deserve to be with my boyfriend,” Seth spat out. “Unless that’s what you’re trying to do.”

“Don’t do that. You know that’s not it, for fuck’s sake. You’ve lost ten pounds in the last couple weeks, and you can’t hide that from me. It’s gonna start affecting your ability, on top of everything else. I’m worried about you.” 

“You think I don’t think that about you, too? You’re practically skin and bones. But you aren’t talking about going home, you’re talking about sending me away.”

“I don’t got a home to go to. You do. That’s the difference. You can get away from this and have a good life. I’ve always been a street rat, at least in Texas it’s not as cold as it gets up North.” 

“Yeah, well, I told you. They kicked me out for being gay, so I don’t have a home anymore either, unless it’s with you.”

“Jeez. Fine. I didn’t wanna start a fight with you, I just… I don’t know what else to do.” He pulled Seth into his side, sighing as he leaned his head on top of Seth’s. “We gotta figure something out, babe. I’ve been out of work for a week, and rent is due.”

“So we live in the car for a while. We’ll figure it out.”

“The car is gonna fall apart any day now. I don’t think we can count on it, either.”

Seth pulled away slightly and turned to face Dean, an idea clearly forming, hope lighting up his eyes again. “If we have to give up this place and the car’s on its last legs, then why don’t we just go ahead to El Paso? Fuck it. There aren’t enough shows here anyway. Maybe we need to make our own luck. If the McMahons won’t call us, then we go call on them.”

Dean looked at Seth a little skeptically. “Just show up unannounced? Hand them our tapes? Dozens of people probably do that every week. How are we gonna stand out?”

“Is it really any worse than staying here? Like I said, there are other fast food jobs, or bouncing, or pizza delivery or… anything. At least we’ll be there if they need someone short-handed. Come on, Dean. You’re good at creating buzz and getting noticed, and the promoters all love what I bring to the ring. You and me, we’re magic together. You know it as well as I do. We’re wrestling soulmates, they can’t miss it if it’s right in front of their faces.” 

It had been so long since Dean had seen that hopeful look on Seth’s face. And he was right. “I mean. I don’t have any counter argument to that. Just gimme a day or two to scrape up some gas money. They won’t kick us outta here for a couple days yet, so we can take advantage of the lukewarm showers and shit while we get it together. Shit. You’re right, why not just fuckin’ go? Ain’t no reason to stay here,” he said, chuckling softly. “Okay. We’re gonna do this. Go blow their fuckin’ minds. They ain’t seen nothing like us, baby,” he added, leaning in to kiss him softly, nodding his head.


	2. Dark Days

Of course, nothing was as easy as planned. Three weeks into living in El Paso and they hadn’t managed to get their tapes to the McMahons. Living out of their car was adding even more stress to their lives, and they were running out of plans to get noticed. The only silver lining was that they’d made some contacts with some people who worked on the Late Night Wrestling Entertainment show who had given them some intel on who to approach, who not to, and what to do if they could get in. The problem, however, was being able to get in. Tapings were done on a regulated set with strict rules for the fans in attendance. Security was everywhere. There was only one loophole…

“No. Dean, we’ve talked about this. You aren’t ever doing that again.”

“It’s no big deal. Really. You just turn part of your brain off and try to enjoy the rest.”

“Dean. I swore to you when we got together that you would never, ever, have to sell yourself again. It’s not happening.”

“You heard what Johnny Ace said. The only time Vince lets his guard down is when he’s got a hired boy in there. And he likes blondes. It’s the only way to get our foot in the door… both literally and figuratively. He’ll know what we want, and if we give him what he wants, then maybe he’ll look at the tapes. Come on, it’s not that bad.”

“No. I remember the last time you had a ‘date’, Dean. The black eye and broken nose. We aren’t putting you in that position.”

“I can take a beating. We’re wrestlers, for God’s sake. A little pain doesn’t actually hurt me. Can you think of another way? We’re running out of options, and running out of money, too. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and we are fucking desperate.”

Seth bit his lip, mind working. “You play it off like it’s no big deal, but I know how much you hated yourself when you were hooking on the side,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll do it,” he blurted out. “I can do it, do this, do it for us.” He looked at Dean, eyes pleading. “I can’t think of another option, either, but I can’t put you through it.”

“No. Not just no, hell no. No. You are not going to – to let – no. Seth. If one of us gotta do it, I will. I’m already-”

“Damaged goods, right? That’s what you were about to say, isn’t it? You aren’t, and it’s been over a year that you’ve been trying to get past that mindset. Clearly, you aren’t as over it as you want to be. And if it’s really no big deal like you say it is, then me going in there and giving him a hand job or a blow job or whatever should be fine. I can handle it.”

There was a long pause before Dean spoke. “I was gonna say experienced in these situations and can tell if it’s turning bad, but…” he said, trying for a grin but making more of a grimace. “It’s probably safe enough. I mean, if he liked anything really dangerous, someone would be talking about it. Still… I don’t like it.”

“He’s an old man. What’s he gonna do? I fight professionally. If he tries anything, I’m younger, faster, have more agility. Or are you saying you don’t like… the other thing?”

“The part where you have someone else’s dick in your mouth? Yeah, I’m not a fan of that. But I was actually talking about the logistics. I don’t know, I just feel like there’s something off about the whole situation, but I won’t hesitate to pull a knife if I have to, you know? It’s just a bad feeling, babe. And yes, if it was me that was in the dangerous position, I would care a whole lot less. I don’t like you risking yourself – physically but also emotionally, you don’t know how you’ll feel afterward.”

“And I’m supposed to be okay with you risking yourself? If you really think there’s another way, then… we’ll do it another way. But you said yourself that we’re desperate. If we don’t give this a try, then we will always wonder if we’d just given it this one shot if it could have made all the difference. What are the odds that it’ll go that wrong? Pretty damn small, if you ask me.”

Dean’s stomach growled, reminding him of exactly how desperate they were. “Okay. Okay. They’re running that show tomorrow night. Frankie can get us backstage, then you can go in there, all Bambi eyes, and… hope for the best, I guess. But I’ll be around. I can’t not be close just in case you need a rescue.”

“My hero,” Seth said, batting his eyes playfully at Dean. He hoped that things didn’t take a sour turn, that all this would turn out to be worth it in the end. He was hoping to lighten the mood a little, since the look on Dean’s face was ominous. “Come on, babe. It’s not gonna be so fun that I’ll wanna leave you and become some rich guy’s rent boy.”

“What, and leave all this?” Dean said, cracking a faint smile as he gestured toward the windshield of the car, the dash littered with fast food wrappers. “Who would give all this up?”

“It’s freedom. Just you and me against the world, right?”

“Always, baby,” Dean said, giving Seth his first genuine smile all day. “Come on. We got enough cash for Taco Bell?” he asked, coaxing the car engine to life. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a Secret Santa challenge based on the following prompt:  
> Ambrollins song!fic based off the Steve Miller song "Take the Money and Run." They're just two young lovers with nothing better to do... than to rob and murder some rich millionaire and take off with the cash to Mexico.
> 
> I love Steve MIller Band, and the idea of Seth and Dean going on the lam was too good to pass up. Things got out of hand and life happened so the whole story will go up as chapters. I'm sorry it won't be all posted in one piece :( I hope you like it!


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